


Sheen

by StoryCloud



Category: Moana (2016)
Genre: AU, First Meetings, Gen, Pre-Canon, human tamatoa - Freeform, realm of monsters
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-03
Updated: 2017-01-03
Packaged: 2018-09-14 14:21:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,395
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9185795
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StoryCloud/pseuds/StoryCloud
Summary: In which Maui encounters Tamatoa for the first time. It could have gone worse. (Pre-canon, Human Tamatoa idea.)





	

Sometimes you get friends who are bosom-buddies or whatever. The kind you can absolutely trust to the point that it’s…kind of creepy. At least, that was a certain demi-god’s perspective. When it comes to non-mortals, the sheer amount of special snowflakes and individual rules and differences, socialising wasn’t a big deal. When you did socialise it was…let’s say a _thin ice_ kind of deal.

Tamatoa could be a pretty pleasant guy if you were on his good side. Trouble is you could wander onto his _bad_ side real easily. It was best not to spend too long in his presence either way - if you were lucky enough not to be eaten or crushed on sight. If the guy found you interesting enough to spare for a second it’s best to flatter like nobody’s business and then _run._

The first time Maui met Tamatoa, he wasn’t as muscular as he would be in years to come. His arms  and legs were the only (visable) parts of his body that had been adorned with his heroic deeds and his hair, without the weight of its future length, sprang up in an awkwardly fluffy way that made him appear a little greener.

Maui, smiling so widely that his cheekbones were almost illegally sharp, peered around the cave entrance. His eyes shifted left and right, not because he was actually looking for anything else other than the giant treasure sitting in the centre of the place, but because it was principle to do so when you played the part of trickster.

His face still held the glimmer of youthfulness, though past the age of many human lifespans he still retained the air of a more rambunctious young man.

Maui’s little tattoo-self was waving his arms to try and get his attention, but failed to do so. The demi-god was staring at the gold lying in the centre of the cave; where the open roof allowed a good amount of sunlight to seep in. Thus making it completely un-scary.

Now that is a fantastic pile of treasure. First class. He ought to leave a note stating ten out of ten. Once he took a sample. Humans nowadays didn’t seem to _get_ what good manufacturing was. A little token would send them reeling back into taste.

A lot of the pile was a bit too tacky for his liking, so he’d maybe pick a dagger. You know, something useful. Maui glanced around with a more devious look and, finding no ‘scary crab’ in sight, moved forward. Then he sauntered.

The smaller monsters that dwelled in the underbelly of the Realm of Monsters mentioned (while hiding under things when he asked) that the ‘crab’ lived here. Collector. Apparently he was a whole load of _bad_. But Maui had dealt with things sharper than crab claws. This would be a piece of cake.

He knelt down, still grinning, and surveyed his choices. Okay, cup, cup, shell, spiky thing, aha! He flexed his fingers and reached out, teeth glinting as he plucked up a gold dagger by the hilt. I hereby dub thee the Knife of Maui.

Straightening up with a completely ‘pleased with himself’ look on his face, Maui continued to look the dagger over even as his Mini-Maui noticed something. And began jumping up and down incessantly.

A sigh. “C’mon, little buddy, I’ve _left_ plenty behind.” Maui placed a hand on his heart, almost squishing him with added dramatic. “Most people would take _everything_.”

_SLAM._

Maui froze on the spot; fingers pinching the dagger so tightly it dug into his skin. Feeling very, very off-put, he slowly turned his head to peer behind him. His lips were sucked in like he’d swallowed a lemon.

His eyes widened.

Standing over him, going towards two plus times his size and width, was a guy. Maui had not met many human-like monsters, but this one took the cake. The man was giant, with large teeth stamped with little gold bits and his eyes kept snapping back to those chompers no matter what he did. His hair had been bound in two long thin braids that hung down like –

That wasn’t hair was it, those were antennas…

“…” Maui opened his mouth. “Uhhh…”

The guy, adorned in pierces, gold, and one of his arms resembling a crab’s (That wasn’t a pretty looking thing) was dressed similarly to him in a tribal sense, but what human-like thing wasn’t? He had very faint purple tattoos (Maui noticed them the most) and he was on the heavy side, too, though not overly.

And again, teeth.

The guy was looming over with a leering grin, like a cat that had cornered a very stupid mouse and was letting the mouse realise that he had screwed up on oh-so-many levels.

“I just _love_ free food.” Maui hadn’t expected a voice like that but _yeesh._

Wait did he just say f -

A large hand clamped onto Maui’s head as snug as a coconut and suddenly he was _hoisted_ up. To eye-level. With the grinning guy. Why was he smiling? He’d just been robbed!

Maui’s hand went to his fish hook and he was about to bellow his usual warrior-cry when the crab-man reached over and snatched it clean out of his grip. “Ooh-hoo, what’s _this_ then?” He said, with the tone of someone clearly enjoying himself. Maui felt a rarely used mechanism known as panic seep into his chest and he began struggling violently, pounding his hand on the fingers digging into his hair – no luck.

Tamatoa looked over the fishhook with a keen eye, digging his tongue into the side of his tooth, “No real sheen, but what can you expect with material like this?” He held Maui up, temple-to-temple, bringing the hook up in front of his face as if they were having a very normal conversation on such things. Maui’s face scrunched up in indignation.

“That’s _mine._ Gimme!”

He reached. Tamatoa’s bulgy-eyes narrowed nastily and he pulled it away just out of the smaller being’s reach. That didn’t stop Maui from trying, growling like a cat all the while. “And who’s this little _human_ wanderin’ ‘round the Realm… of the _Monsters_?”

Weird accent and weird delivery. Maui let his arms fall with a huff, “I am a Demi-God, and it’s _Maui_. Hero of Men. Wind and sea, ring any bells?”

“Hmmm…no.” Tamatoa popped his lips together in complete indifference. Then, his eye trailed to Mini-Maui, who was tapping his foot in annoyance. “…Well that’s unique.”

“Hey lay off big g…” Maui glanced up in surprise, “Wait, what?”

Tamatoa dropped him. A furious yelp resonated through the cave when he re-caught him by the arm and lifted him up again, eyeing the tattoos running up the limb. Maui raised his free hand, “Hey, watch the merchandise…oh hey, you got a crab tattoo.”

Pretty cool, but he preferred black. He voiced this, adding, “Goes with the hair, by the way.”

“So it does.” Tamatoa’s eye twinkled a bit, “A little bare, though.”

The other man lifted his dead proudly, “I’m gonna get _more_. Gotta have room for the ink.”

“Practical.” Tamatoa drawled, eyes lidded rather lazily now. “I almost feel bad about eating you. You don’t find many people with good _taste_ these days.”

“You are very right on that – hang on a sec.” Maui lifted a finger, “Run that by me again, did you say _eat_?”

And had that been a lame pun?

“Yup.” Again, the crab-man casually popped his lips on the ‘p’.His expression was more deadpan now, as if Maui was slow for not expecting it. “I don’t like grubby little hands stealing my glam.”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, back up.” Maui waved a hand to keep the conversation going, for it seemed the guy was starting to lose interest. Think fast. “C’mon, we’re both awesome guys. Awesome guys don’t need to murder each other, right?”

He was wrenched so close their foreheads knocked together. Fish-breath. All connotations of pleasantry gone, Tamatoa was glaring so maliciously into his eyes that Maui was sure he was about to lose a great deal of his face.

“Are you just trying to flatter me so I won’t _kill you_?” He hissed, and Maui’s eyes squinted and he grimaced in preparation for some _major pain_ –

“Flatter away!” Tamatoa quipped, plopping him back on the floor.

Maui blinked three times and it still didn’t rid him or the swirling in his head.

Well that was an opening he didn’t know he get. Maui leaned back, frowning as he watched Tamatoa stride over to a chair-like rock formation nearby, flopping down like he owned the place. Well he did. “So how come all I hear ‘bout you is ‘stay away from the crab guy?’”

One leg swung over the other, Tamatoa retorted with a snappy grin, “Why haven’ I heard more ‘bout you than ‘don’t eat me? You look like a land-person yourself, by the way, it’s obvious by the leaves. Probably the reason.” He began picking his teeth and Maui looked away; he’d rather not know what visitor had been the last ‘free food’. “If you lived down here you’d know, man.”

Overhead, some fish swam by. The shift in light made the many jewels and decorations of the guy flash and Maui had to blink away the effect. “Guess that makes sense.”

“Most have the smarts to avoid my place.” Tamatoa said, lounging back and staring at the ceiling. “Which brings me back to you trying to nick a dagger.”

Maui grinned openly, “C’mon – no hard feelings? I didn’t think you’d miss it, seeing as you got a lot of cool stuff already.”

Tamatoa eyed him down and Maui fought to keep his expression the same. “Hmm. All right then, _Semi-God_.” He drew out the term in a sing-song voice and clearly took glee in how Maui scowled at it, “Why’d you try somethin’ so dumb? I know my stuff’s _beautiful…_ though it’s been a while since anyone tried to steal it.”

Apparently, this guy didn’t get to jabber on about himself much and he was humouring Maui for now – probably intended to chow down eventually. Maui didn’t see himself strutting out of here. Yet for some weird reason Maui couldn’t help but feel amused by the guy, seriously.

He didn’t exactly _talk_ to be people either.

He shrugged, “Oh, you know, just a little thrill huntin’.”

“ _Classy.”_

“Didn’t I say I was sorry?”

“No. You didn’t as a matter a’ fact, where’s my apology?”

“Sorry, man. Couldn’t help myself, you’re stuff’s too shiny.” Shameless flattery. Tamatoa laughed, and it was more raucous compared to his usual voice.

“So,” He began, now happily picking his teeth with the same dagger in question. In his hand it was no better than a twig really. “Design those tattoos yourself, Demi-God?”

“Not quite.” Maui stood up slowly, so he wouldn’t look like he was about to book it for the exit. He was almost enjoying the chat. With a proud head-whip that re-fluffed his hair, he added, “The gods bestow ‘em whenever I do something _awesome.”_

It wasn’t that easy to impress. “Like?” The glint in the crab-man eyes was a challenge. Maui put his hands on his hips and puffed his chest out,

“Well for _one thing_ I pulled up the sky. And lassoed the sun. Your tall self and extended sparkle-days are welcome.”

Tamatoa frowned incredulously. “No way you did that.”

“I did.” Maui pointed at him, grinning broadly. “And also I fished some islands outa the sea.”

The crab-man glanced sideways, eyes almost shut. “I wondered why all those boulders started flying out of the sea.”

“Not only do the humans get room up there, you guys get some elbow room down here.” Maui sat himself down against the wall, tucking his arms comfortably behind his head. He cracked one eye open. “You’re welcome.”

“All right, then, Maui man.” Tamatoa quirked a brow, still grinning. “How about…that one on your back?”

The good mood melted off Maui’s face in less than a second. But by the next second he’d wrestled it back into a tight kind of smirk. “Oh, that?” His voice was pinched but he kept the facade up, forcing a shrug, “That’s nothing, really.”

Lips pressed together in a very camp, comical fashion, Tamatoa gave an ‘hmph’ of indifference and let it drop. “All right then, have it your way.”

Slowly but surely, Maui stood up and stretched out his limbs. Tamatoa was still holding his hook. Clapping his hands together, the Demi-God tried to appear humble. “I guess I’ll be hobbling off now, Friend.” He glanced at his hook a bit.

“I might keep this.” Tamatoa was more smug than a cockatoo that had stolen a nest. “Instead of stamping on you for sneaking in here and trying to rob me.”

Still friendly. Maui sucked in the air through his teeth and tried to keep his temper under control. “How ‘bout this, Crab Cake. I get you something…”

A sneaky look flashed on Maui’s mug. “Something way better.”

He had him like putty in his hand. Tamatoa lifted his head, clearly interested. “Oh?”

“Name it, I’ll get it.” Maui placed his hands behind his head. Bring it on, Crab Man. Tamatoa’s eyes narrowed a bit.

“Alright, then. I’ve had my eye on a sparkly little trinket that resides on the other edge of the Realm…”

“Consider it done –“

Tamatoa’s eyes were a little too wide as he added, “And it belongs to a bad-tempered _squid monster_. Who likes to pull people’s skin off.”

There was probably a trap there; perhaps Tamatoa had expected Maui to back out. But this was Maui, and adding a sea monster just made it _better._ He snapped his fingers, “You got it.”

“Then consider it a deal.”

His hook was tossed at him so suddenly it almost bonked him on the nose. He played it off by catching it with a twirl of his fingers and half-bowing as he stepped towards the exit. “Well, Tama my man, it’s been swell.”

He sauntered out, the odd voice following him with a deceiving kind of lightness. “I’ll be waiting, Demi-God. You don’t bring back that trinket, I’ll find you myself. Don’t think you can outrun me on those funny little legs!”

Maui actually laughed when he left the cave.

Well _that_ happened.


End file.
